Partners

Derek Brown

President

Derek Brown is a leading spirits and cocktail expert and president of Drink Company, which owns and operates 2017 Spirited Award winning "Best American Cocktail Bar" Columbia Room as well as PUB, a rotating pop-up bar that's housed the wildly-popular Miracle on 7th Street, Cherry Blossom PUB and Game of Thrones PUB. Playboy magazine named him as one of "The 10 Entertainers, Thought Leaders and Heroes Who'll Save Us in 2017."

A native Washingtonian with deep ties to the city — his great-grandfather was once D.C.’s police chief — Derek admits that Washington provides a unique vantage point as the capital city, having mixed drinks for everyone from royalty, ambassadors and senators to fellow Washingtonians, interns and students. He’s concocted cocktails at the White House, clinked glasses with Martha Stewart and was even appointed Chief Spirits Advisor at the National Archives. Derek’s philosophy for crafting memorable drinks goes beyond what’s shaken, stirred and served in a glass. “When I think about cocktails, I think about how they connect to nature, I think about how they connect to history,” he explained to Imbibe magazine, which named him 2015’s Bartender of the Year. “I think about how they connect to the people who made them and the time they were living in.”

Derek’s passion for spirits has taken him across the globe, where he’s learned about the integral role food and drink play in the culture, customs and values of communities worldwide. He’s also written about drinks and drinking for The Atlantic, The Washington Post and Bon Appetit magazine, among other publications.

Derek is a spirits judge at the prestigious San Francisco World's Spirit Competition and works with many charities and organization in a role as advisor, including the DC Public Library Foundation, BevCon Charleston and Share Our Strength.

Angie Fetherston

CEO

Angie Fetherston is the CEO of Drink Company, overseeing the company’s business operations as well as partnerships, corporate development and strategy. She co-founded Drink Company with leading spirits and cocktail expert Derek Brown in 2010 and together they own several bars including the James Beard Award-nominated and Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award-winning 2017 "Best American Cocktail Bar" Columbia Room. They are also well known for their successful string of pop-up bars including Miracle on 7th Street (in partnership with Cocktail Kingdom), Cherry Blossom PUB, Game of Thrones PUB and PUB Dread. Both Angie and Derek have headed multiple community initiatives such as supporting the National Archives Foundation with programming surrounding their Spirited Republic exhibit and helping the D.C. City Council to proclaim the Rickey as the official cocktail of Washington D.C.

Angie is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business where she was awarded their prestigious 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year Award. More recently, Angie was inducted into the Tales of the Cocktail Dame Hall of Fame in 2016 which celebrates groundbreaking achievements by women in the global hospitality industry and included in the list of "Women to Watch" in Washingtonian Magazine’s 2017 Most Powerful Women in Washington. She is married to JP Fetherston and lives with him and their beloved dog, Teddy Grahams, in Washington, D.C.

JP Fetherston

Partner

JP is the Beverage Director for Drink Company, overseeing all of Drink Company’s menus, spirits, training and educational programs. Perviously, as head bartender of the Columbia Room, he led his team to win "Best American Cocktail Bar" at the 2017 Spirited Awards. He has also been named Food & Wine Magazine's "2016 Best New Mixologists in America" and included in Thrillist’s list of “America’s 21 Greatest Bartenders of 2015.” Previously, he was Bar Manager at the now defunct Southern Efficiency and won numerous accolades for himself and the bar including Eater D.C.'s 2014 "Bartender of the Year," Food & Wine Magazine's 2014 "People's Best Bar in the Northeast" and Bon Appetit Magazine's 2014 "Top 50 Best New Restaurants in America."

JP has master’s degrees in history from both the London School of Economics and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He has also cycled throughout Scotland, visiting 27 different distilleries before apprenticing at Bruichladdich under Master Distiller Jim McEwan and his team. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Angie Fetherston.

Johnny Spero

Head Chef

Chef Johnny Spero began his culinary career at the at of 16 in Baltimore County. For the past 10 years he has been living and working in Washington D.C., most recently during his tenure as executive sous chef at Jose Andres’ Minibar the restaurant earned a perfect four-star review from The Washington Post.

In 2014, Johnny was awarded the prestigious STARCHEFS "D.C. Rising Star", was Eater DC's "Chef of the Year", and was a Rammy Awards finalist for “Rising Culinary Star of the Year.” He recently returned to the area after spending last year staging at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain. He lives with his wife Alexis and their dog Nacho.

Johnny plans to open his first solo restaurant, Reverie, in 2018.

Paul Taylor

Head of Bar Concepts

Paul Taylor is Drink Company’s Head of Bar Concepts and one of the creative forces behind Drink Company’s PUB, which housed the viral pop-ups Miracle on 7th Street (in partnership with Cocktail Kingdom), Cherry Blossom PUB, Game of Thrones PUB and PUB Dread. He plays a critical role in creating the menus, spirits, training and educational programs of all Drink Company bar concepts and was formerly the Bar Manager of Southern Efficiency where he was voted Washington, D.C.’s "Best Male Bartender” by arts and culture collective One Love Massive. Paul has more than a decade of hospitality experience, having worked in nearly every position in the industry and was previously the beverage director for a restaurant group in Northern Virginia. A native of Arlington, Virginia, Taylor enjoys studying and imbibing all types of beverages, but is particularly fond of whiskey in all its delicious forms. Outside of the bar, Paul and his wife Kaitlynn enjoy exploring the culinary world, from dining out to researching and cooking new cuisine at home.